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Wednesday, November 3, 2010

End of an Era

It has been a fiendishly long time since I have posted, for which I apologize. There have been good meals to be sure, but alas they have not made their way to the blog. I apologize for the absence and promise to do better as we approach the holidays.

Along the way, I want to welcome Patrick to the When Dad Cooks community. Please check out his blog, Duck Fat and Politics when you get a chance. It's great fun and those of you who lurk in Minnesota (and I know who you are) might see local fare you recognize.

Anyway, Halloween came and went. It is a vaguely food oriented holiday so a fitting topic here. Halloween has been a big deal in this house since the kids were old enough to play dress up. They have played many roles and I'll remember fondly so many of them. A Disney princess. Bob the Builder. A black cat. Spiderman. Padme from Star Wars. Inspector Clouseau.

And on and on.

My kids are teens or very nearly so now. Trick or treating is not quite what it used to be.

The high school girl was not interested and made that known early with a simple "No" to the question. She then went back to her homework.

Her younger brother tried to arrange something with a neighborhood buddy but it didn't work out. He said his Halloween would be spent giving out candy at the door. That would be sufficient.

Then, at about 7:30, after the first wave had come to the door, he came downstairs in an updated version of his Phantom of the Opera costume from a few years ago. The mask still fit because we had made it from a hockey mask at the time. The cape was nowhere near as long on him, but it worked.

"OK," BMW said, excited for the first time that evening. "Get me some chocolate. I don't care about the rest. Get me some chocolate or you're not going to college."

My wife can be subtle some times. This was not one of those times.

My son and I wandered the neighborhood for about a half hour. We talked about Halloweens past and how a couple of the houses seemed scarier in previous years. He had various theories about houses that would give good candy and conducted experiments against those hypotheses.

Eventually, he felt assured that his college education was secure and we returned home. BMW and my daughter were sitting on the front porch with a big bowl of candy and study guide sheets for a test in some subject or another.

The candy was easily divided and we settled in to watch a football game on TV.

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About Me

My mother believed that anything worth eating was also worth frying. Mom's vegetable repertoire was limited. I was about 30, shopping with my California-raised bride, when I discovered that spinach was not naturally a bunch of green yuck that oozed out of a can.
Food and cooking is my hobby, my passion and a scholarly interest. It is also at the center of our family life.
Of course, Dad's cooking presents some unique hazards that are just built into the male DNA. It is said that men will only do things that are either dirty or dangerous and that pretty much describes the kitchen when I am in my frenzy. Early in our marriage, my wife would enter the kitchen and say some things that, well, can't be shared in a family-oriented blog, but you can easily find those words in other corners of the Internet. Over time, though, she discovered that there was a direct correlation between the level of utter destruction and the quality of the meal. These days, she comes into the kitchen, surveys the debris and says, "Oh, this is going to be good."